Convergent Evolution

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Author :
Publisher : Springer Nature
ISBN 13 : 3031114418
Total Pages : 594 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (311 download)

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Book Synopsis Convergent Evolution by : Vincent L. Bels

Download or read book Convergent Evolution written by Vincent L. Bels and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2023-03-01 with total page 594 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume presents a series of case studies, at different levels of inclusivity, of how organisms exhibit functional convergence as a key evolutionary mechanism resulting in responses to similar environmental constraints in mechanically similar ways. The contributors to this volume have selected and documented cases of convergent evolution of form and function that are perceived to be driven by environmental abiotic and/or biotic challenges that fall within their areas of expertise. Collectively these chapters explore this phenomenon across a broad phylogenetic spectrum. The sequence of chapters follows the organizational principle of increasing phylogenetic inclusivity, rather than the clustering of chapters by perceived similarity of the phenotypic features or biomechanical challenges being considered. This is done to maintain focus on the evolutionary phenomenon that is the primary subject matter of the book, thereby providing a basis for discussion among the readership about what is necessary and sufficient to justify the recognition of functional convergence. All chapters stress the need for integrative approaches for the elucidation of both pattern and process as they relate to convergence at various taxonomic levels.

Convergent Evolution

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Author :
Publisher : MIT Press
ISBN 13 : 0262016427
Total Pages : 335 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (62 download)

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Book Synopsis Convergent Evolution by : George R. McGhee

Download or read book Convergent Evolution written by George R. McGhee and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 2011 with total page 335 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Convergent evolution occurs on all levels, from tiny organic molecules to entire ecosystems of species.

Convergent Evolution on Earth

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Author :
Publisher : MIT Press
ISBN 13 : 0262042738
Total Pages : 333 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (62 download)

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Book Synopsis Convergent Evolution on Earth by : George R. McGhee, Jr.

Download or read book Convergent Evolution on Earth written by George R. McGhee, Jr. and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 2019-10-15 with total page 333 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An analysis of patterns of convergent evolution on Earth that suggests where we might look for similar convergent forms on other planets. Why does a sea lily look like a palm tree? And why is a sea lily called a “lily” when it is a marine animal and not a plant? Many marine animals bear a noticeable similarity in form to land-dwelling plants. And yet these marine animal forms evolved in the oceans first; land plants independently and convergently evolved similar forms much later in geologic time. In this book, George McGhee analyzes patterns of convergent evolution on Earth and argues that these patterns offer lessons for the search for life elsewhere in the universe. Our Earth is a water world; 71 percent of the earth's surface is covered by water. The fossil record shows that multicellular life on dry land is a new phenomenon; for the vast majority of the earth's history—3,500 million years of its 4,560 million years of existence—complex life existed only in the oceans. Explaining that convergent biological evolution occurs because of limited evolutionary pathways, McGhee examines examples of convergent evolution in forms of feeding, immobility and mobility, defense, and organ systems. McGhee suggests that the patterns of convergent evolution that we see in our own water world indicate the potential for similar convergent forms in other water worlds. We should search for extraterrestrial life on water worlds, and for technological life on water worlds with continental landmasses.

The Convergent Evolution of Agriculture in Humans and Insects

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Author :
Publisher : MIT Press
ISBN 13 : 0262543206
Total Pages : 339 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (625 download)

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Book Synopsis The Convergent Evolution of Agriculture in Humans and Insects by : Ted R Schultz

Download or read book The Convergent Evolution of Agriculture in Humans and Insects written by Ted R Schultz and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 2022-02-22 with total page 339 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Contributors explore common elements in the evolutionary histories of both human and insect agriculture resulting from convergent evolution. During the past 12,000 years, agriculture originated in humans as many as twenty-three times, and during the past 65 million years, agriculture also originated in nonhuman animals at least twenty times and in insects at least fifteen times. It is much more likely that these independent origins represent similar solutions to the challenge of growing food than that they are due purely to chance. This volume seeks to identify common elements in the evolutionary histories of both human and insect agriculture that are the results of convergent evolution. The goal is to create a new, synthetic field that characterizes, quantifies, and empirically documents the evolutionary and ecological mechanisms that drive both human and nonhuman agriculture. The contributors report on the results of quantitative analyses comparing human and nonhuman agriculture; discuss evolutionary conflicts of interest between and among farmers and cultivars and how they interfere with efficiencies of agricultural symbiosis; describe in detail agriculture in termites, ambrosia beetles, and ants; and consider patterns of evolutionary convergence in different aspects of agriculture, comparing fungal parasites of ant agriculture with fungal parasites of human agriculture, analyzing the effects of agriculture on human anatomy, and tracing the similarities and differences between the evolution of agriculture in humans and in a single, relatively well-studied insect group, fungus-farming ants.

Culture History and Convergent Evolution

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Author :
Publisher : Springer Nature
ISBN 13 : 3030461262
Total Pages : 302 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (34 download)

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Book Synopsis Culture History and Convergent Evolution by : Huw S. Groucutt

Download or read book Culture History and Convergent Evolution written by Huw S. Groucutt and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2020-07-23 with total page 302 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume brings together diverse contributions from leading archaeologists and paleoanthropologists, covering various spatial and temporal periods to distinguish convergent evolution from cultural transmission in order to see if we can discover ancient human populations. With a focus on lithic technology, the book analyzes ancient materials and cultures to systematically explore the theoretical and physical aspects of culture, convergence, and populations in human evolution and prehistory. The book will be of interest to academics, students and researchers in archaeology, paleoanthropology, genetics, and paleontology. The book begins by addressing early prehistory, discussing the convergent evolution of behaviors and the diverse ecological conditions driving the success of different evolutionary paths. Chapters discuss these topics and technology in the context of the Lower Paleolithic/Earlier Stone age and Middle Paleolithic/Middle Stone Age. The book then moves towards a focus on the prehistory of our species over the last 40,000 years. Topics covered include the human evolutionary and dispersal consequences of the Middle-Upper Paleolithic Transition in Western Eurasia. Readers will also learn about the cultural convergences, and divergences, that occurred during the Terminal Pleistocene and Holocene, such as the budding of human societies in the Americas. The book concludes by integrating these various perspectives and theories, and explores different methods of analysis to link technological developments and cultural convergence.

Convergent Evolution in Stone-Tool Technology

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Author :
Publisher : MIT Press
ISBN 13 : 0262552086
Total Pages : 305 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (625 download)

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Book Synopsis Convergent Evolution in Stone-Tool Technology by : Michael J. O'Brien

Download or read book Convergent Evolution in Stone-Tool Technology written by Michael J. O'Brien and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 2024-05-21 with total page 305 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Scholars from a variety of disciplines consider cases of convergence in lithic technology, when functional or developmental constraints result in similar forms in independent lineages. Hominins began using stone tools at least 2.6 million years ago, perhaps even 3.4 million years ago. Given the nearly ubiquitous use of stone tools by humans and their ancestors, the study of lithic technology offers an important line of inquiry into questions of evolution and behavior. This book examines convergence in stone tool-making, cases in which functional or developmental constraints result in similar forms in independent lineages. Identifying examples of convergence, and distinguishing convergence from divergence, refutes hypotheses that suggest physical or cultural connection between far-flung prehistoric toolmakers. Employing phylogenetic analysis and stone-tool replication, the contributors show that similarity of tools can be caused by such common constraints as the fracture properties of stone or adaptive challenges rather than such unlikely phenomena as migration of toolmakers over an Arctic ice shelf. Contributors R. Alexander Bentley, Briggs Buchanan, Marcelo Cardillo, Mathieu Charbonneau, Judith Charlin, Chris Clarkson, Loren G. Davis, Metin I. Eren, Peter Hiscock, Thomas A. Jennings, Steven L. Kuhn, Daniel E. Lieberman, George R. McGhee, Alex Mackay, Michael J. O'Brien, Charlotte D. Pevny, Ceri Shipton, Ashley M. Smallwood, Heather Smith, Jayne Wilkins, Samuel C. Willis, Nicolas Zayns

Convergent Evolution in Warm Deserts

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Author :
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 358 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (91 download)

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Book Synopsis Convergent Evolution in Warm Deserts by : Gordon H. Orians

Download or read book Convergent Evolution in Warm Deserts written by Gordon H. Orians and published by . This book was released on 1977 with total page 358 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Brenner's Encyclopedia of Genetics

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Publisher : Academic Press
ISBN 13 : 0080961568
Total Pages : 4360 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (89 download)

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Book Synopsis Brenner's Encyclopedia of Genetics by : Stanley Maloy

Download or read book Brenner's Encyclopedia of Genetics written by Stanley Maloy and published by Academic Press. This book was released on 2013-03-03 with total page 4360 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The explosion of the field of genetics over the last decade, with the new technologies that have stimulated research, suggests that a new sort of reference work is needed to keep pace with such a fast-moving and interdisciplinary field. Brenner's Encyclopedia of Genetics, Second Edition, Seven Volume Set, builds on the foundation of the first edition by addressing many of the key subfields of genetics that were just in their infancy when the first edition was published. The currency and accessibility of this foundational content will be unrivalled, making this work useful for scientists and non-scientists alike. Featuring relatively short entries on genetics topics written by experts in that topic, Brenner's Encyclopedia of Genetics, Second Edition, Seven Volume Set provides an effective way to quickly learn about any aspect of genetics, from Abortive Transduction to Zygotes. Adding to its utility, the work provides short entries that briefly define key terms, and a guide to additional reading and relevant websites for further study. Many of the entries include figures to explain difficult concepts. Key terms in related areas such as biochemistry, cell, and molecular biology are also included, and there are entries that describe historical figures in genetics, providing insights into their careers and discoveries. This 7-volume set represents a 25% expansion from the first edition, with over 1600 articles encompassing this burgeoning field Thoroughly up-to-date, with many new topics and subfields covered that were in their infancy or not inexistence at the time of the first edition. Timely coverage of emergent areas such as epigenetics, personalized genomic medicine, pharmacogenetics, and genetic enhancement technologies Interdisciplinary and global in its outlook, as befits the field of genetics Brief articles, written by experts in the field, which not only discuss, define, and explain key elements of the field, but also provide definition of key terms, suggestions for further reading, and biographical sketches of the key people in the history of genetics

Biology Solved Papers Vol.02

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Author :
Publisher : YOUTH COMPETITION TIMES
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 864 pages
Book Rating : 4./5 ( download)

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Book Synopsis Biology Solved Papers Vol.02 by : YCT Expert Team

Download or read book Biology Solved Papers Vol.02 written by YCT Expert Team and published by YOUTH COMPETITION TIMES. This book was released on with total page 864 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 2023-24 NEET/AIPMT Biology Solved Papers Vol.02

Evolutionary Biology

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Author :
Publisher : Springer
ISBN 13 : 3319413244
Total Pages : 422 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (194 download)

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Book Synopsis Evolutionary Biology by : Pierre Pontarotti

Download or read book Evolutionary Biology written by Pierre Pontarotti and published by Springer. This book was released on 2016-09-20 with total page 422 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book presents selected contributions to the 19th Evolutionary Biology Meeting, which took place in September 2015 in Marseille. It consists of 22 chapters, which are grouped in four sections: · Convergent Evolution · Evolution of Complex Traits · Concepts · Methods The annual Evolutionary Biology Meetings in Marseille serve to gather leading evolutionary biologists and other scientists using evolutionary biology concepts, e.g for medical research, to promote the exchange of ideas and to encourage interdisciplinary collaborations. Offering an up-to-date overview of recent findings in the field of evolutionary biology, this book is an invaluable source of information for scientists, teachers and advanced students.

Convergent Evolution on Earth

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Author :
Publisher : MIT Press
ISBN 13 : 0262354187
Total Pages : 333 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (623 download)

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Book Synopsis Convergent Evolution on Earth by : George R. McGhee, Jr.

Download or read book Convergent Evolution on Earth written by George R. McGhee, Jr. and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 2019-10-29 with total page 333 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An analysis of patterns of convergent evolution on Earth that suggests where we might look for similar convergent forms on other planets. Why does a sea lily look like a palm tree? And why is a sea lily called a “lily” when it is a marine animal and not a plant? Many marine animals bear a noticeable similarity in form to land-dwelling plants. And yet these marine animal forms evolved in the oceans first; land plants independently and convergently evolved similar forms much later in geologic time. In this book, George McGhee analyzes patterns of convergent evolution on Earth and argues that these patterns offer lessons for the search for life elsewhere in the universe. Our Earth is a water world; 71 percent of the earth's surface is covered by water. The fossil record shows that multicellular life on dry land is a new phenomenon; for the vast majority of the earth's history—3,500 million years of its 4,560 million years of existence—complex life existed only in the oceans. Explaining that convergent biological evolution occurs because of limited evolutionary pathways, McGhee examines examples of convergent evolution in forms of feeding, immobility and mobility, defense, and organ systems. McGhee suggests that the patterns of convergent evolution that we see in our own water world indicate the potential for similar convergent forms in other water worlds. We should search for extraterrestrial life on water worlds, and for technological life on water worlds with continental landmasses.

Convergent Evolution

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Author :
Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 9780262298001
Total Pages : pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (98 download)

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Book Synopsis Convergent Evolution by : George R. McGhee

Download or read book Convergent Evolution written by George R. McGhee and published by . This book was released on 2011 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An analysis of convergent evolution, from molecules to ecosystems, demonstrating the limited number of evolutionary pathways available to life.

Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics

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Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 9780824314095
Total Pages : 638 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (14 download)

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Book Synopsis Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics by : Richard F. Johnston

Download or read book Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics written by Richard F. Johnston and published by . This book was released on 1978 with total page 638 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Contingency and Convergence

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Publisher : MIT Press
ISBN 13 : 0262356600
Total Pages : 329 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (623 download)

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Book Synopsis Contingency and Convergence by : Russell Powell

Download or read book Contingency and Convergence written by Russell Powell and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 2020-02-04 with total page 329 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Can we can use the patterns and processes of convergent evolution to make inferences about universal laws of life, on Earth and elsewhere? In this book, Russell Powell investigates whether we can use the patterns and processes of convergent evolution to make inferences about universal laws of life, on Earth and elsewhere. Weaving together disparate philosophical and empirical threads, Powell offers the first detailed analysis of the interplay between contingency and convergence in macroevolution, as it relates to both complex life in general and cognitively complex life in particular. If the evolution of mind is not a historical accident, the product of convergence rather than contingency, then, Powell asks, is mind likely to be an evolutionarily important feature of any living world? Stephen Jay Gould argued for the primacy of contingency in evolution. Gould's “radical contingency thesis” (RCT) has been challenged, but critics have largely failed to engage with its core claims and theoretical commitments. Powell fills this gap. He first examines convergent regularities at both temporal and phylogenetic depths, finding evidence that both vindicates and rebuffs Gould's argument for contingency. Powell follows this partial defense of the RCT with a substantive critique. Among the evolutionary outcomes that might defy the RCT, he argues, cognition is particularly important—not only for human-specific issues of the evolution of intelligence and consciousness but also for the large-scale ecological organization of macroscopic living worlds. Turning his attention to complex cognitive life, Powell considers what patterns of cognitive convergence tell us about the nature of mind, its evolution, and its place in the universe. If complex bodies are common in the universe, might complex minds be common as well?

The Convergent Evolution of Agriculture in Humans and Insects

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Author :
Publisher : MIT Press
ISBN 13 : 0262367564
Total Pages : 339 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (623 download)

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Book Synopsis The Convergent Evolution of Agriculture in Humans and Insects by : Ted R Schultz

Download or read book The Convergent Evolution of Agriculture in Humans and Insects written by Ted R Schultz and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 2022-02-15 with total page 339 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Contributors explore common elements in the evolutionary histories of both human and insect agriculture resulting from convergent evolution. During the past 12,000 years, agriculture originated in humans as many as twenty-three times, and during the past 65 million years, agriculture also originated in nonhuman animals at least twenty times and in insects at least fifteen times. It is much more likely that these independent origins represent similar solutions to the challenge of growing food than that they are due purely to chance. This volume seeks to identify common elements in the evolutionary histories of both human and insect agriculture that are the results of convergent evolution. The goal is to create a new, synthetic field that characterizes, quantifies, and empirically documents the evolutionary and ecological mechanisms that drive both human and nonhuman agriculture. The contributors report on the results of quantitative analyses comparing human and nonhuman agriculture; discuss evolutionary conflicts of interest between and among farmers and cultivars and how they interfere with efficiencies of agricultural symbiosis; describe in detail agriculture in termites, ambrosia beetles, and ants; and consider patterns of evolutionary convergence in different aspects of agriculture, comparing fungal parasites of ant agriculture with fungal parasites of human agriculture, analyzing the effects of agriculture on human anatomy, and tracing the similarities and differences between the evolution of agriculture in humans and in a single, relatively well-studied insect group, fungus-farming ants.

Proceedings

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Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 732 pages
Book Rating : 4.:/5 ( download)

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Book Synopsis Proceedings by :

Download or read book Proceedings written by and published by . This book was released on 2009 with total page 732 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Handbook of Human Molecular Evolution, 2 Volume Set

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Author :
Publisher : John Wiley & Sons
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 936 pages
Book Rating : 4.F/5 ( download)

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Book Synopsis Handbook of Human Molecular Evolution, 2 Volume Set by : David N. Cooper

Download or read book Handbook of Human Molecular Evolution, 2 Volume Set written by David N. Cooper and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2008-10-13 with total page 936 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "This splendid compendium ... will be the standard reference work for years to come: a handbook to browse, to consult, to look things up in, and to read with pleasure, wonder and post-Darwinian exhilaration." —Richard Dawkins "This is a marvellous book… It should be in every university library - preferably in several copies - and every reader of this journal should add it to their next grant application. It really is that good... I have already found this book to be invaluable… For many years to come, these two volumes will be the starting point for anyone wishing to find out about virtually any subject relating to human genetics… Any scientist working on humans or other animals will find many things in these pages that will stimulate, inform and inspire. The authors, editors and publishers are to be congratulated for their work… order a copy now!" —HUMAN GENETICS "The publishers and editors deserve to be congratulated for publishing this major book which coincides with the 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Darwin. The book is well-timed, with biologists, theologians and sociologists engaged in intense debate on the Darwinian Theory on the origin of species, evolution and natural selection… There is little doubt that this marvellous publication should be in the library of universities and academic institutions dealing with basic and applied biology research and education… It will not be surprising if the individual academic or researcher decides to invest in this resource and enrich their personal collection of leading books in genetics and genomics." —GENOMIC MEDICINE A Unique Collection of High-Quality Articles – Derived from the Acclaimed Encyclopedia of Life Sciences The revolution in human molecular genetics which has taken place over the last three decades has yielded a wealth of information not only on the structure and function of our genes, but also on gene expression, mutation and polymorphic variation. Over the last five years, the focus has moved from genes to genomes. Even though the annotation of our ~30,000 genes is still in progress, genome-wide studies have already yielded abundant evidence for the signatures of past selection and adaptive evolution within human gene sequences. Further, the completion of the sequencing of the 3 billion base-pair human genome, coupled with the increasing availability of other vertebrate genome sequences, has ushered in a new era of comparative genomics. We are now able to identify many of the molecular events (from the chromosomal level down to the single base-pair) that have occurred during vertebrate, mammalian, primate and hominid evolution. Indeed, the detailed comparison of the human and chimpanzee genomes has begun to reveal some of the genetic changes that have been involved in the development of human lineage-specific traits. We are thus acquiring the ability to ask searching questions about our origins, about the demographic processes associated with the global radiation of humankind, as well as some of the unique adaptations that make us human. Evolutionary biology has become so broad that its impact may be felt across the spectrum of the biological sciences. The aim of the Handbook of Human Molecular Evolution is relatively straightforward: to bring together under the same cover the many and varied strands of our knowledge of human/primate/vertebrate molecular evolution. Hence, the 282 chapters that comprise this essential reference work have been thematically arranged into twelve sections, covering the whole scope of research into human molecular evolution: General Concepts in Evolutionary Genetics Mutation, Adaptation and Natural Selection Evolutionary and Population Genetics Human Evolution Human Genome Evolution Evolution of Human Gene Structure and Function Evolution of Gene Expression Mitochondrial Genome Evolution Chromosomal Evolution Comparative Genomics Evolution and Disease Susceptibility Analysis of Ancient DNA This conceptual outline informed the selection of the chapters themselves and the connections between them. Some of these chapters are intended to be introductory, aimed at undergraduates and non-specialists. They provide basic information and a list of recommended further reading to encourage the reader to explore a topic in more depth. This approach helps the student reader progress from textbook material to primary literature. Some chapters are overviews that address topics of broad interest and importance, while others focus on quite specialized topics. These chapters are written for postgraduate students and research workers; they contain more detailed information and key references allowing the reader to investigate a specific area in more depth. This format allows professionals to use the books as a quick reference source. The chapters are richly supplied with website information to allow access to relevant data sources over the internet. The self-contained, peer-reviewed articles in this unique handbook have been written by leading scientists in each field. Key topics include the evolution of enzyme function, the use of nucleic acid divergence as a "molecular clock", the origin of non-functional or junk DNA, the role of gene duplication in the emergence of novel gene function and the identification of molecular changes responsible for various human characteristics especially those pertaining to infection, cognition, disease and disease susceptibility. The Handbook of Human Molecular Evolution has adopted an integrated approach to the study of human evolution and seeks throughout to emphasize the interplay between molecular genetic concepts and principles on the one hand, and information acquisition and interpretation on the other. In this way, it is hoped that the ‘documents of evolutionary history’ written into the fabric of our genome, will become accessible to the widest possible audience.